1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to after image data. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a mechanism to convert after image data to a delta level change.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Service Data Objects (SDO) framework provides a unified framework for data application development. With a Service Data Objects framework, a user does not need to be familiar with a technology-specific application protocol interface (API) in order to access and utilize data. A user needs to know only one application protocol interface, the Service Data Objects framework application protocol interface, which lets the user work with data from multiple data sources, including relational databases, entity Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) components, Extensible Markup Language (XML) pages, Web services, the Java™ Connector Architecture, JavaServer™ Pages pages, and more.
Although the word “framework” is used, framework is analogous to the Eclipse framework. Eclipse is designed so that tools can be integrated together thanks to its solid and extensible base. The Service Data Objects framework is similar in the sense that it provides a framework to which applications can be contributed and these applications will all be consistent with the Service Data Objects framework model.
Unlike some of the other data integration models, the Service Data Objects framework does not stop at data abstraction. The Service Data Objects framework also incorporates a good number of Java™ 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE™) patterns and best practices, making it easy to incorporate proven architecture and designs into user applications. For example, the majority of Web applications today are not (and cannot) be connected to backend systems 100 percent of the time; so the Service Data Objects framework supports a disconnected programming model. Likewise, today's applications tend to be remarkably complex, comprising many layers of concern.
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is becoming ubiquitous in distributed applications. For example, the Extensible Markup Language Schema (XSD) is used to define business rules in an application's data format. Also, the Extensible Markup Language itself is used to facilitate interaction: Web services use the Extensible Markup Language based Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) as the messaging technology. Extensible Markup Language is a very important driver of Service Data Objects framework and is supported and integrated in the framework.
Data objects are the fundamental components of the Service Data Objects framework. Data objects are the Service Data Objects framework representation of structured data. Data objects are generic and provide a common view of structured data built by a data mediators services (DMS). Data objects hold their “data” in properties. Data objects are linked together and contained in data graphs.
Data graphs provide a container for a tree of data objects. They are produced by the data mediators services for the Service Data Objects framework clients to work with. A data graph contains a root data object, all of the root's associated data objects, and a change summary (more on change summaries in a moment).
An Enterprise Information System (EIS) is comprised of applications that comprise the existing system of an enterprise for handling company-wide information. Examples of enterprise information systems include: an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a mainframe transaction processing system, and a legacy database system. A hub is a virtual data area between different enterprise information systems where data in a format of the particular enterprise information systems may be converted to data in a format of another enterprise information system.
Data that flows around a hub may have three different natures:                1. A simple business object that represents non-enriched data.        2. A business graph that represents after image data, which represents changes to the business objects in the business graph.        3. A business graph that represents delta data which reflects all property and business object changes.        
There are scenarios where an application requires delta level changes but the data it needs is in an enterprise information system after image format.